Fear
by PrincessKatlin
Summary: After a battle where Serena, had a close shave with death, she gets overwhelmed with her realisation that she could and will die. She finds an unexpected comfort.


**Fear**

She sat crouched in the alley. Tears chasing their siblings down her face. Serena could hear the world going on around her, people completely oblivious to reality, and their own mortality. It was a warm and sunny day, so the alley was simply shaded. Seeming more like a shelter in that it was remaining only slightly dark, compared to the pitch black it would be in on a more overcast day.

She heard footsteps approaching her on her right, walking out from the back of the crown arcade. She quickly got up, turning her back to the encroaching being behind her, to hide her shameful puffiness, and she brushed herself off. Then she wiped her secret tracks from her face with her royal blue jumper.

The footsteps paused briefly, and then resumed their previous command, much more hesitantly than before. "Meatball head? …What are you doing here? Are you ok?"

Irritation reared its ugly head. Darien, of course, had to be the one to find her. Now he would see her as a weak, stupid creature. She tried to walk away, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. She felt confused. Why was he stopping her? How could she of not noticed him touching her, when now his hand felt like it was burning her shoulder?

She breathed an exasperated sigh, and pivoted on her heels to face him. He noticed straight away that she was not all right. Her face and eyes were red. Her eyes weren't just red they were watering, preparing to spill over. He did something he had not done in a while. He put his arms around her and embraced her.

This contact caused a silent waterfall.

They stood there, like that, until her tears stopped. They at a snail's speed unwound from each other, but remained a hair width away. "Why were you crying?" Darien questioned the petite blonde.

Feeling she owed him the truth she replied," I almost died," she quickly looked up at the man who had just quickly inhaled a breath, " It was something I… I didn't expect it. Everything happened so quickly… But I was lucky. I was so lucky. And it wasn't even me being klutzy or stupid. I just had never experienced that before."

"So your upset you almost died?"

"Yes," she answered, "… and no… There 's just so much I want to experience before I die. People I want to meet, places I want to visit. I want to love and be loved. I want to know what Shakespeare was talking about. I want to have a chance at living. Really live and experience everything. I don't want to regret anything." She looked up at him hoping he would get it, what she saw was his eyes wide and shimmering. She turned to put her back against the wall and slid down it. He joined her on the alley floor.

" I get it. I do, but you have to remember when you are dead you can't regret a thing," Serena turned confused at his answer, " If the Christians are right, then our soul is what lives on after we die. Your soul won't care about what you missed out on. It would be more preoccupied with other more angelic pursuits. If the Buddhists are right, then you will be reincarnated and you won't remember a thing of this world, because you would be a baby again. If the Atheists are right then you will just cease to exist. No heaven or hell, just lack of existence. So, you can't regret what you don't do when you are dead, only when you are alive."

She sat there stunned. She felt slightly relieved. But then she felt panic rising again, replacing the sliver of relief with anxiety. She brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. " I'm still scared of dying though."

He looked down in thought. " James Toback said something along the lines of 'you can't live until you are prepared to die'. What he meant was that you have to be ready to die, to accept that you will die, to truly live. Not worship it or anything, but accept the inevitability of your own demise. Cause in reality, the worst thing that can happen is not death," he mused, suddenly realizing that he might not make sense or worse she stopped listening all together. He looked up towards his left and locked eyes with her; he found understanding. He realized he lost his mask, it had fallen, and now she could see everything.

Her bell like voice sliced through his thoughts, "It makes you brave." He smiled in reply, realizing she got him. She really understood him.

They sat there in comfortable silence for a while. Shoulder to shoulder.

**The End**

_Hi guys. I'm new to this so reviews and constructive criticism is very welcome. I will be bashing out a few shorts before I tackle anything big, because I haven't written anything except for poetry since I was fifteen or sixteen and I've never written fanfiction before yesterday. Hope you liked it. X_


End file.
